Designers

Kerplunk

I remember playing Kerplunk at my great-aunt’s house. I’m a little older than the game itself, so it must have been a fairly new game at the time. It was, and still is, a different kind of game. It’s funky looking, like a plastic porcupine, and it’s loud. It’s a game worth having around.

Originally published in 1967 by the Ideal Toy Company, Kerplunk consists of a plastic tube that rotates on a plastic tray that is divided into sections. The plastic tube is perforated by numerous holes around the side of the cylinder. The game comes with a set of multi-colored sticks that you slide into the holes so that the tube is blocked. You then fill the top portion of the tube with marbles. As you remove the sticks, the marbles will begin to fall into your tray if you are not careful. Usually, the marbles will be fine and then they start falling like mad.

My daughter loves this game. It’s not something we have out all of the time, because of the marbles and the noise, but she really loves playing it when she gets the chance. It’s a good game, and I appreciate the nostalgia factor. I like it when the kids are playing a game I used to play when I was their age. We have both the original version and the Electronic Super Kerplunk! which is more expensive, but it has flashing lights and sound, and it has two rows of marbles.